By Aarya Krishnan
Bugs come in different shapes and sizes. Butterflies, mosquitos, and house flies are more commonly found. Most of them are harmless to nature but not the ones we will be talking about today! Spotted Lanternflies are bugs with polka-dotted wings in shades of red, black, and beige that make them resemble paper lanterns. They feed on the sap of a plant and when there are high populations of them, they can cause noteworthy damage.
They feed on over 70+ species of plants, including vital forestry and agricultural crops. The most harm to-date has been detected in wineries, ornamental nurseries, and people’s yards. They are native to India, China and Vietnam and possibly arrived in the United States in a cut stone shipment in 2012. The first sighting was in 2014 in Berks County, Pennsylvania on a tree of heaven – a common invasive tree transported to North America from China in the late 1700s. By July 2021 the lanternfly had spread to approximately half of Pennsylvania, great areas of New Jersey, parts of New York state, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
It was also found in western Connecticut, eastern Ohio, and now Indiana. These bugs spread fast as they lay egg masses in the late summer and autumn on the trunks of trees. Once born, they can crawl to host and damage other plants. Insects that grow by feeding on lanternflies and killing them in the process have been transported from China for testing and possible future release.
People who see spotted lanternflies in their areas have been advised to contact the local county extension office for proposals on how to control the bugs. And if they are the first sighter of the bugs in the area, contacting the state department of agriculture is recommended. If the infestation is caught early before it can become established in the area, hopefully it can be exterminated there but eventually, it will spread to many parts of the country. The only way to slow the spread is by identifying and eradicating new swarms wherever they arise. We better hope we don’t run into these in our backyard!